WEEKLY BIRD REPORT FROM PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY AND THE QUINTE AREA FOR THE WEEK ENDING Thursday, February 21, 2008
The big news this week in Prince Edward County was the appearance of a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE near the junction of County Road 24 and Simpson Road. The bird was discovered on February 16th by members of the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists and was still there as of Thursday at noon. Despite its name, the bird is associating with a small group of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, the solitaire attracted by a crop of berries on the red cedars. Also showing up at the same site on Saturday was a dark morph ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. Another dark morph was seen Monday along County Road 14 near Ebber's Lane, likely the same bird that was present earlier this winter on Big Island. What was probably the Quinte area's only SNOWY OWL to be seen this winter was observed on the west side of Belleville in the Colonial Road area on the 17th. It has been a good week for birds of prey. A photographer taking a leisurely drive in the South Bay area on the 15th, came across a BARRED OWL on a limb along the roadside which later flew to a sunny location in a tree against the side of a barn where it became this week's featured photo on the Main Birding Page of the NatureStuff website. Another BARRED OWL was seen along Harmony Road in Thurlow, north of Belleville. Yet another BARRED OWL was spotted at the west end of Ridge Road on the 17th as it hunted in a rural garden. A BALD EAGLE was seen on Huff's Island on the 15th, and an immature was spotted at Prince Edward Point on the 21st, along with 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS. At nearby Massassauga, 2 EASTERN SCREECH OWLS - one a grey morph and the other a red morph, have been taking turns at a wood duck nesting box, seemingly keeping guard at the opening. A big surprise for one pair of birders out for the day on the 16th was a TURKEY VULTURE at the corner of County Road 10 and Royal Road in the Milford area. Presumably the same bird was seen again further north between Cherry Valley and Milford on the 21st. Three NORTHERN HARRIERS along South Big Island Road all this week would seem to suggest early migrants. It is not certain if an AMERICAN WOODCOCK though found under some bushes near the Quinte Skyway Bridge was a tardy migrant, an ornery winter resident, or just an overly optimistic spring migrant, likely the latter. Considerable snow still in the fields and some 20 or 30 cm more in snow squalls Tuesday in parts of the county, has forced HORNED LARKS out to the roadside where they are more easily observed these days. And of the over 125 seen at various point on the 17th by one observer, one flock contained a single LAPLAND LONGSPUR, along Huyck's Point Road. Other birds seen during the week were more in keeping with the season. A PINE GROSBEAK remained in one tree in Bloomfield, singing for a full 30 minutes, before heading off. Another was encountered by a Big Island resident as he was out snowshoeing. Numerous flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS are still cartwheeling over snow covered meadows across the region, and while most feeders are reporting a drop in COMMON REDPOLLS, one Allisonville resident still has between 80 and 100 coming to her feeders every day, where a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW is also a regular. A wait for the Glenora Ferry on the Adolphustown side proved profitable for one birder when both a HOARY REDPOLL and an EASTERN TOWHEE were found. At Milford, one birder there saw some activity on a large tree and discovered not only 2 PILEATED WOODPECKERS working away, but a HAIRY WOODPECKER as well. RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS continue to appeared at feeders, and there was a new occurrence of one at a feeder at South Bay. This species will soon be as common as both Downies and Hairys in a few years. It is not known if a new shipment of AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS arrived in the Quinte area recently, but numerous operators of feeders this past week noted a marked increase in their numbers with the highest number being 30 at a feeder north of Stirling. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, a species not that common usually at feeders in this area during winter, seem to be everywhere with up to two coming to some feeders. A PILEATED WOODPECKER, seen winging past one home, near Tweed was presumed responsible for a suet feeder swinging madly by itself in one backyard. A truly amazing feeder, located where it is near the edge of a woods, and which might explain why they have no fewer than 22 RED SQUIRRELS. A BROWN CREEPER was present in a Barry Heights, Trenton backyard this week. Waterfowl observing continues to be poor at Wellington Harbour where everything remains iced in. From the Glendon Green boat launch at Log Cabin Point the available water there in East Lake hosted 50 MUTE SWANS on Saturday. Four wing tagged TRUMPETER SWANS were among them this morning - numbers #954, #052 and #952, and one other whose numbers were indiscernible. In the open waters of Prince Edward Bay and Lake Ontario at Prince Edward Point, prospects for waterfowl are somewhat better where COMMON GOLDENEYE, GREATER SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER, LONG-TAILED DUCK, BLACK SCOTER, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER and REDHEAD were all present on the 16th. Among the sprinkling of ducks in Consecon Creek within that village on the 17th were 2 MUTE SWANS, a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS and a male REDHEAD, as well as a HERRING GULL munching down a dead carp, according to one observer who checked out that area. At Barcovan in the Wellers Bay area, 2 NORTHERN PINTAILS were present on Thursday. And if you want to believe that spring is around the corner, A Napanee area resident found a flock of 30 AMERICAN ROBINS last Thursday. While warming the cockles of anyone's heart at this time of the year, it probably is as much a harbinger of spring as the PINE WARBLER that spent much of the winter at a feeder in Trenton this year. And that's it for this week from Prince Edward County and the Quinte area. Our thanks to Gloria Durell, Albert Boisvert, Doug McRae, Fiona King, Susan Shipman, Mike Burge & Kathy Felkar, Joanne Dewey, Stephanie Collins, John Hatfield, Owen Weir, Wendy Sharpe, David Bree, Nicole McKinnon, Hugh Sharpe, Bob Culp, John Charlton, Fred Helleiner, John & Janet Foster, Ted Cullin, Debbie Burns, Carolyn Barnes, Borys Holowacz, and Henri Garand for their contributions to this week's report. This report will be updated on Thursday, February 28th, but sightings can be e-mailed any time before the 6:00 p.m. Thursday deadline. Featured photos in the online edition of the Quinte Area Bird Report include a HAIRY WOODPECKER by Sydney Smith of Wellington and a NORTHERN CARDINAL by Laura Pierce of Waupoos. Photo on the Main Birding Page of the NatureStuff website is of a BARRED OWL at South Bay by Susan Shipman of Wellington. Terry Sprague Prince Edward County [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.naturestuff.net _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
